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See the ‘Dylan by Duluth’ sculpture concept
Last Sunday I talked about a new Bob Dylan sculpture project in Duluth in my preview of northern Minnesota’s Dylan Fest and Dylan Days (starting today!) Here’s a sneak peak at the sculpture, which was unveiled at a preview yesterday: The “Dylan by Duluth” website launches Monday, with a Kickstarter raising funds for the project…
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Dylan Days commence in Hibbing, Minnesota
Today Dylan Days starts in earnest in Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota. Duluth poet laureate Sheila Packa will lead a poetry workshop from 1-3 p.m. at the Hibbing Memorial Building dining hall. At 3, M.L. Liebler and the Coyote Monk Band Great Northern Radio Show alumnus and Hibbing’s own Iris Kolodji will provide entertainment…
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Advanced tech predicts Ojard’s replacement at Duluth port authority
Today it was announced that Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, is retiring. Shipping is a big deal in the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, a vital transportation artery for the mining industry of the Iron Range and many agriculture and manufacturing interests. It’s important that we know…
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Magnetation secures $325 million for Mesabi Range, Indiana expansions
Though it’s an area that prides itself on its public works, the Iron Range tends to do better economically when private equity moves around. That’s why Magnetation’s announcement yesterday of a $325 million investment in their new concentration plant by Coleraine and pellet plant in Indiana is potentially the sleeper story of the year on…
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Hill Annex Mine State Park faces uncertain future
Hill Annex Mine State Park in Calumet is the only one of only two Minnesota state parks that honor mining history. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d recommend you check it out this summer. You should anyway, but this might be the last summer the park is open. Buried in the park’s charter is…
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Session shifts state priorities, creates opportunity for northern MN
The Minnesota state legislature adjourned late last night, passing the last of its necessary budget bills — all of which will be signed by Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN). This is the first time in more than 20 years that our state’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has held the House, Senate and governor’s mansion at the same time.…
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Sometimes ‘zee plane’ really is ‘zee plane’
It’s this picture again. Second time! You’d think it couldn’t happen again but it JUST DID. The Mesabi Daily News has made another Fantasy Island reference, again quoting Tattoo’s famous line, “Zee plane! Zee plane!” Last time it was a March 7 reference to the function of state government in job creation. That was a…
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Paul Bunyan horror flick on tap for summer showings
A few weeks ago I wrote about “Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan.” I found the concept of a Paul Bunyan horror film to be quite divisive among my readers. For some, the trailer evoked the kind of excitement seldom seen for a movie that proudly bills itself as a latter-day B-movie. For others,…
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Comet Theater meets fundraising goal, will surivive into Digital Age
The Comet Theater in Cook, the oldest active single-screen theater left in Minnesota, faced an existential crisis this spring and has survived. Last week, the theater announced it had met its Kickstarter goal of raising $80,000 for new digital equipment allowing them to show modern features. Movie studios are no longer sending film versions of…
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Price of gas a combustible crisis in northern MN
Gas prices reaching $4.50 in some places have northern Minnesotans hopped up on angry fumes. It reflects a jump of more than a dollar a gallon in just over a week. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, along with Rep. Rick Nolan, are all calling for federal investigations of price fixing. The reason given for…
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Dylan sculpted music, now hometowns etch him in history
This is my Sunday column for the May 19, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I’ll be revealing more about Tom Page’s Dylan sculpture project in a week or so. Dylan sculpted music, now hometowns etch him in historyBy Aaron J. Brown The figure crouches over a guitar, playing against a hurricane. A long…
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The Whistling Bird to reopen: Caribbean food on the Iron Range!
UPDATE: The Duluth News Tribune confirms the report, interviewing new owner Jessica Antonovich and chef Patrick Berg. Berg was mentored by the late Whistling Bird co-owner JoPat Curtis during a three year stint as kitchen manager at the original restaurant. The new Whistling Bird will include a wider variety of Caribbean food than before. I…
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North Country Dylan Celebration starts today
For fans of Bob Dylan, the northern Minnesota music scene or those who just wonder about the connection between the world’s most influential living musician and the back woods, mining towns and blue collar city of his youth, well, we’ve got you covered. Today Duluth begins its annual Dylan Fest. A series of events continue…
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Brian Laidlaw plays Zimmy’s tonight, unofficial start of Dylan celebration
Twin Cities-based singer/songwriter Brian Laidlaw will be putting on a pretty cool show tonight at Zimmy’s in downtown Hibbing. You could even consider this an unofficial kickoff of the “North Country Dylan Celebration” in northern Minnesota, starting tomorrow with Duluth Dylan Fest and continuing next week with Dylan Days in Hibbing. From 8-11 p.m., Laidlaw…
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Rogue carp shot on sight
Perhaps you recall that this blog stands ready to defend northern waters from Asian carp. No blog has been more on the cutting edge of exotic carp awareness than this one, a claim we stand ready to defend by way of jumping out of the water and crashing against the bow of your boat, causing…